Former Vampire Diaries Star Janina Gavankar Cast in The Mysteries of Laura

We may not have loved the Silas/Tessa/Amara storyline on Season 5 ofThe Vampire Diaries, but we did love the bitterly sarcastic evilness of Janina Gavankar as Tessa. The actress managed to make even the most dastardly of deeds entertaining, and we kinda miss her. Luckily, we’ll at least be getting Janina back on our screens! She has just been cast in a new pilot!

According to Deadline, Janina is set to co-star in NBC’s new pilot, The Mysteries of Laura. The drama is based on a popular Spanish series, and will follow homicide detective Laura Diamond (Debra Messing),” who can handle murderous criminals — but not her hell-raising twin children.” Sounds potentially good.

Janina will be playing the character of Meredith, “a tightly wound and perfectly coiffed detective who sees herself as far more sophisticated than her fellow detective and rival Laura Diamond.” Apparently, she is super-frustrated with the fact that Laura is “the precinct’s golden child.” Hmm…“tightly wound” and annoyed that another woman has earned something she perceives herself to deserve? Yep, we think Janina can pull it off.

Whatever happens with The Mysteries of Laura, we hope we get a chance to see Tessa again on TVD. We may not have loved how the Silas/Tessa/Amara storyline played out — mostly because it felt somewhat disconnected from what our main characters’ care about — but that doesn’t mean we don’t think Tessa is a fun character. With the news that the Travelers will soon be stirring trouble on TVD, we wonder if this is the last we’ve seen of the witch who created the Other Side.

How do you think Janina’s new show sounds? Do you want to see Tessa again on TVD? Sound off in the comments below!

Catch the next episode of The Vampire Diaries on Thursday, March 20 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

Kayti Burt is a contributing writer for Wetpaint Entertainment with a penchant for all things pop culture. Follow her on Twitter and Google+!